Andy’s Mexican & Ameican Deli

Finally! I think I’m probably the last person in the South Lansing/Holt area to grab lunch at Andy’s Mexican & American Deli in Holt. We’ve tried a couple times and even got up early yesterday to try and get lunch before I had to be to work at 2:00. When I called to make sure they were open, I got an answering machine saying Andy changed his hours and was closed on Sunday.

Last night, J and I decided it was time to clean out our closet. We ended up filling six garbage bags with clothes we haven’t worn since we moved here. Since we were going out in the rain to drop them off at Goodwill, we thought we’d double back to Holt and stop in to Andy’s for lunch.

Andy’s Mexican & American Deli is on North Aurelius Road in Holt. It’s actually located inside Brower’s Foods & Hardware. It takes up the space that used to be Big T’s Extreme Deli. When we walked into the store, Andy was at the cash register chatting with the lady from the hardware store. Still, he greeted us like he knew we were there for food. We made our way back to his part of the store and started looking over the menu posted on the counter. We were told that the taco lunch was the special for today. I was going to get taco’s anyway, but I didn’t want the rice and beans that come with it. I never end up eating them and there was an option for tacos a la carte, so that’s what I did. I ordered three, but he must have mistook what I said and only made two. He only charged for two, so no big deal. Sometimes, I think it’s me. My orders get screwed up every so often and I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m not clear. Even J says she has a hard time understanding me from time to time.

J ordered the lunch combo which is a taco, a bean tostado, and an enchilada. She also got an order of the guacamole since that’s the one item that everyone has been raving about.

After we were done with ordering, Andy said it’d be about five minutes or so while he prepared everything. All of the food is made from scratch and the guacamole is actually made to order. As he was slicing up the avacado, he asked J how much tomato and onion she wanted. She said to go light on both and he did. The whole time he was working on our meal, he was chatting with J about business and how things have been taking off. You might remember I posted a story that ABC 3 did on Friday night. He said the next morning, he sold 50 breakfast burritos before 9:30 AM and most of those customers came in after seeing the story on TV.

While all this was going on, I walked over to Brower’s cooler to grab a couple Pepsi’s. Andy’s has Coke products for sale, but I’m more of a Pepsi guy, so I grabbed a couple bottles and paid for them up front. We weren’t planning on eating in anyway, but if you’d want to, there are three tables situated near the deli which is where J was sitting.

A little over five minutes after we ordered, our lunch was ready. We grabbed the bag and headed home to eat. Neither of us could wait to dig in.

I dove straight into the tacos which were delicious. The homemade hardshell tacos were filled with ground beef, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. There was also a handful of homemade chips in the Styrofoam container. The taco shell was so much better than the premade, prepackaged things you get from most places. You could see the flaky layers of the tortilla as the taco shell crumbled with each bite. The homemade chips were just as good. Andy threw in a container of his green chile hot sauce. It was really hot. I only took a few bites and I had to stop. I like spicy and this is spicy!

J went right for the guacamole. We had heard so much hype about this particular guac that we were both a little skeptical that it could actually live up to that hype. J took a bite and declared it the best guacamole she has ever had. She said it was so fresh and so delicious. There weren’t enough chips in the meal to finish off the guac, so we have some left in the fridge. She’s contemplating going back just to get more chips so she can finish the guacamole. My guess is she’s just going to end up eating it with a spoon. It was that good.

Two tacos and chips from Andy's Mexican & American Deli in Holt

The best thing about Andy’s was the attention to detail. This is an operation that has only one employee. Andy works ridiculous hours to make a go of this. He was telling J that most nights he’s at the store until almost midnight getting ready for the next day then he’s back in at 6:45 to open the store at 7:00 AM…and he does this six days a week. All of the food is homemade and prepared fresh everyday. You can see the love and care that is put into the food. The Styrofoam containers are packed them sealed tightly with aluminum foil. Each meal comes with a plastic knife and fork that is carefully wrapped in a napkin and held together with a paper wrap just like you’d find in a fancier restaurant.

It’s hard to find anything bad to say about this place. Here, you have a guy who has a dream and he’s sacrificing a lot to make it work. Not only that, but he’s passionate about what he does. He takes time to shoot the breeze with the customers, but doesn’t sacrifice the quality of his food. As we were leaving, Andy was telling J that he finally got all the permits to set up a smoker out back. Starting this Wednesday (4-22), he will offer brisket and pulled pork that will be smoked everyday on the premises. Pretty sure we’ll be stopping back at the end of the week.

Wherever you live in the Lansing metro area, Andy’s Mexican & American Deli is worth the drive to Holt.

8 responses

You didn’t trust me on the guacamole? It is really a pretty simple guac with only a couple ingredients…but the difference is the freshness. I haven’t had someone serve guacamole that fresh since I lived in Arizona. I can’t wait for him to fire up the smoker!

Me too! This is so dangerous! And when he gets the smoker fired up- I’m really going to be in trouble!
I’m temped to stop and get some chips on my way home from work to eat the rest of the guacamole… but that’s not too good of an idea at midnight. I guess I’ll just stop in and get some more on my way to work tomorrow!

I have eaten the guac with a spoon! The guac doesn’t keep well, as he doesn’t add lime juice to it. I say eat it with a spoon tonight so you don’t have gray guac tomorrow! It still tastes fine when it discolors, just looks nasty!